Caving In
by FallingStar888
Summary: Kagome has recently graduated from college at the young age of 19. Her life takes a turn for the unusual when she is offered a job at an estranged hospital... but exactly what is she getting herself into?
1. Prologue

Caving In

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or the characters. That privilege is reserved to the most honorable Rumiko Takehashi. I bow down to her awesomeness! **

**A/N- **_thoughts are in italics_**… hint hint. I will update as soon as I am able. Please review either at the end of chapters or when you are finished completely, either is fine w/ me. Thank you for choosing to read this fanfic! It is the first I've ever posted. I appreciate all types of feedback! **

Prologue:

An annoying, squawking noise came from the alarm clock next to the bed. A hand sleepily searched the nightstand for the contraption's off switch. A click in the darkness killed the sound. A rustling of blankets being moved around in the very early morning. A yawn starts the day.


	2. Train ride

Caving In

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or the characters. That privilege is reserved to the most honorable Rumiko Takehashi. I bow down to her awesomeness! **

**A/N- **_thoughts are in italics_**… hint hint. I will update as soon as I am able. Please review either at the end of chapters or when you are finished completely, either is fine w/ me. Thank you for choosing to read this fanfic! It is the first I've ever posted. I appreciate all types of feedback! **

Chapter 1: Train Ride

The moon was still out. It was four o'clock in the morning. It was January 7th, 2010 and it was snowing. The white flurries froze to the window pane for where there was snow, freezing rain would follow. This was a morning where those who had to be on the road early could possibly hit an unknown patch of black ice, skidding into possible injury or death.

That's where she came in. At nineteen years of age, Kagome Higurashi was awake at four in the morning to get ready for college. Her minor in music, but her major was the real reason why she thought of other people's lives every day. She had just put on her shoes and finished getting her hair up in a messy bun, when her mother called up the stairs for her.

"Kagome? Dear, do you want some breakfast before you leave for school?"

Kagome called back to her, "Sure Mom! I'm coming down now."

She barreled down the stairs loudly like an elephant stampede. She was in a rush to beat the traffic she just heard from the television in her brother's closed off room.

"Sheesh, sis. Ya' think you could slow down and be a bit quieter? Grandpa's still asleep." Sota whispered out to her.

Kagome froze in mid-step on the stairs. "Oops… Sorry." She whispered back.

"S'ok. Good luck today." He replied sleepily.

"Thanks, Sota. Now get back to bed." Kagome smiled gently at her brother's door and continued quickly, but quietly, down the stairs.

She met her mother at the bottom of the staircase and explained that she couldn't eat breakfast just yet, but that after she returned home she would sit down for a nice meal with her family. Her mother smiled, handed Kagome her navy blue school bag, and told her not to be too late. The next thing Kagome knew, she was running out the front door with her bag slung over her shoulder and a pop tart in her hand.

**On the way to school**

Tokyo was a gorgeous city, but it was even more beautiful covered in a blanket of snow. The city looked like something out of a picture book. It was a wonder to everyone. It hadn't snowed like this since a few years ago. All of the younger students, high school and below had no school today because of the ice on the streets. The college students weren't so lucky. The wealthier college students usually took the Shinkansen- or the "bullet train". The other _average_ college students, like Kagome, took the Hitachi- the limited express trains. Quickly, she stepped past the ticket booths, she reached her train. As soon as she boarded the train, Kagome grabbed the handle above to steady herself for departure. A female voice over the intercom stated the places and arrival times, and then all was silent except the creaking of the train moving along the rusty track.

Three young, teenage girls- sitting in front of Kagome and to her left by the door- were whispering and texting on their cell phones. Behind Kagome was a couple, about her age, snuggled together under a dark brown trench coat laughing quietly. To her right was a little boy who had fallen asleep in his grandmother's lap. The elderly lady smiled at her grandson and brushed his bangs from his eyes. Kagome had to smile at all of the warmth around her. Love and friendship were the most intoxicating feelings in the world to her.

It seemed like forever for only a 45 minute train ride. The feminine voice came over the intercom again, announcing Kagome's stop. Letting go of the handle, she began to walk towards the sliding door when someone nearly shoved her into the couple under the coat.

"SORRY!" The pushy guy called back to her. He seemed like he was in a hurry by how fast he ran, black ponytail swishing behind him.

'_Youkai.' _Kagome thought, shaking her head. _'Always in a hurry.' _

She eventually made it off of the train and out of the station, freely walking onward to Tokyo's most prestigious medical university.


	3. Awkward Silence or Dramatic Pause

Caving In

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or the characters. That privilege is reserved to the most honorable Rumiko Takehashi. I bow down to her awesomeness! **

**A/N- **_thoughts are in italics_**… hint hint. I will update as soon as I am able. Please review either at the end of chapters or when you are finished completely, either is fine w/ me. Thank you for choosing to read this fanfic! It is the first I've ever posted. I appreciate all types of feedback! **

Chapter 2: You call it Awkward Silence… I call it Dramatic Pause

After her father died, a few years back from a brain tumor, Kagome dedicated herself to become fully knowledgeable in medicine. It was only when she stumbled upon the university's website that she obliged herself to become a nurse. She had wanted to be able to save at least one life, since she had lost the only true friend that she had in her father.

The automatic doors slid open for her. She didn't feel like using the revolving door today. She was usually carefree and played around in them, but today was different. As Kagome entered the lobby area, her classmate and childhood friend, Hojo called out to her from the elevator. Hojo was Kagome's age. He had milk chocolate hair that matched his gentle eyes and he had a slight build. She waved back and began to walk his way. As she almost reached Hojo and the elevators, a tall figure stepped between them. Startled, Kagome looked up at the very tall, white haired youkai.

The youkai glanced down at her with chilling amber eyes, "Shouldn't you be getting to class, Ms. Higurashi?"

"Uh… y-yes. Hojo and I were just on our way up, Professor Sesshoumaru." She stammered as she walked into an open elevator with him and Hojo.

In an instant, the elevator doors whispered shut and strange, lobby-like music came over the speaker. Kagome stood in front of the doors while Hojo stood behind her left and their professor behind her right.

Kagome's eyes darted to her right then to her left and thought, _'Awkward….' _She sighed to herself, weird music still playing in the background.

A chime sounded from the elevator and the doors slid open again to reveal other students and professors rushing to their classes. Hojo turned to Kagome, grabbed her arm and started to walk out of the elevator and down the hall to their first class of the morning; Sesshoumaru lagging far behind.

"H-Hojo, what are you doing?! Let go of me!" Kagome harshly whispered.

"No."

Befuddled, Kagome stammered, "W-what?! Why not?"

His reply was, "I saw the way the professor was looking at you, Kagome. I didn't like it at all."

Kagome had to blink a few times to understand that Hojo was telling her that he was trying to protect her. She stopped dead in her tracks and wriggled out of his light grasp.

"Kagome?" Hojo turned to her.

"I don't need anyone to protect me. Not now. Not _ever_." She asserted, her bangs shading her chocolate eyes, and she brushed past Hojo to their classroom.

He looked at her; his feelings injured, and then followed her silently into the first of their final classes for the year.


	4. Atonement

Caving In

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or the characters. That privilege is reserved to the most honorable Rumiko Takehashi. I bow down to her awesomeness! **

**A/N- **_thoughts are in italics_**… hint hint. I will update as soon as I am able. Please review either at the end of chapters or when you are finished completely, either is fine w/ me. Thank you for choosing to read this fanfic! It is the first I've ever posted. I appreciate all types of feedback! **

Chapter 3: Atonement

It was graduation week and today was the day of the hands-on final in Professor Okinu's lab class. The test was on how to administer the appropriate surgery, the post-surgery therapies, and the medications to a cancer patient. This was the moment Kagome had been waiting on for four years. This was her atonement for feeling like she failed in saving her father. She walked up to the bed she had been assigned to and grabbed the chart at the end of the bed.

**~Atonashi, Rin **

**9 years old (minor)**

**Parent/Guardian- Okinu, Sesshoumaru**

**Patient No. 7295**

**Diagnosis:**

** Patient 7295 has gone in for multiple MRI and CAT scans. After multiple blood tests, patient's ailment is diagnosed as Leukemia. **

**Sesshoumaru Okinu**

**Supervising Doctor~**

Kagome looked up in shock to actually see her professor's charge smiling weakly at her.

She thought to herself, _'Why me? Why is __**she**__ my final? If I don't help her then…' _ Kagome looked over at her professor. _'I'm gonna fail…'_ Her hopes heavy, Kagome's head slumped to her chest, the chart hid her defeated face.

"Nurse?" Rin asked.

Kagome's head snapped back up to look at the sickly girl. "Yes?" She said, while she thought, _'I'm not a nurse__** yet**__…'_

"Am I gonna get better _soon_?"

These words froze the young student's body and mind. They froze her right down to her soul. Kagome had no **idea** if what she was going to suggest to Rin was going to work **quickly**. But she had a very, strong knowledge that it would heal the child _over time._

To reassure the girl, Kagome just smiled. "Don't you worry. With what I'm going to prescribe for you, you'll be healthy as a horse in no time at all!"

Rin' smile transformed from a dim light to a beaming beacon after Kagome's words of encouragement. The warmth Kagome felt from the little girl's heart was all encompassing and bewildering at the same time. And in one moment it was all over.

The prescribed meds, surgery, and therapies were exchanged between her and Rin. Afterwards, Rin walked up to Kagome and gave her a grateful hug. Kagome smiled warmly at her, as Rin walked out the door to go home with Professor Okinu, hand in hand.

"Man… I hope she's gonna be okay." Kagome thought aloud, still clutching Rin's chart to her chest.

A hand fell to rest on her shoulder and she turned to see Hojo smiling down at her.

"Need me to walk you home?" He asked.

Flustered, Kagome replied, "Yeah…"

As they walked out the lab door Kagome gave him a look that apologized for her rudeness before class. Hojo just smiled.

**Out in the city**

The city grew colder later that morning around six o'clock. Kagome had spent almost two whole hours at medical school taking final after final until she was done for the entire week. The next four days were to be spent getting ready for graduation day and the parties that were to ensue after the ceremony. Kagome breathed hot air into her mittened hands and drew her black, wool jacket and her black scarf closer to her to keep from freezing. Her blue knee-length skirt was whipping in the wind, along with her long raven hair. A large wind gusted her hair into her eyes so that she couldn't see in front of her. When she finally tamed her hair back into place, Kagome noticed the first white flurries of the day floating down in front of her. She sighed as she walked down the steps towards the underground where her friends were waiting for her.

"Kagome! Over here!" A voice called through the crowds.

Kagome looked over to the concrete alcove where the voice called from. Ayumi was standing there waving her over. Kagome waved back at her and pushed her way through the crowds. She and Hojo had parted at the university doors because he remembered that he had interviews at local hospitals that afternoon. Kagome sure wished that he was there now to help her through this mess of people.

In the midst of the crowd, something small ran between Kagome's already stumbling feet tripping her. She gave a small noise of surprise, then felt the cold floor rushing up to her as she fell. Her eyes tightly closed and her body braced for the rough impact of hitting the floor. It **never** came. Slowly, she opened her dark russet eyes to see a pair of stormy gray eyes staring back at her.


	5. Phone Call

Caving In

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or the characters. That privilege is reserved to the most honorable Rumiko Takehashi. I bow down to her awesomeness! **

**A/N- **_thoughts are in italics_**… hint hint. I will update as soon as I am able. Please review either at the end of chapters or when you are finished completely, either is fine w/ me. Thank you for choosing to read this fanfic! It is the first I've ever posted. I appreciate all types of feedback! **

Chapter 4: Phone Call

"Hm. You should have been more careful, human." A rough voice said.

He was clothed in a tan fur and an earthy smell rose off of him. His black hair was tied back in a high ponytail and his built arms were what had prevented her from cracking her skull on the hard, gray floor. He sniffed the air and smirked.

"Nice perfume. I'm Kouga." He helped Kagome to her feet.

Kagome kept her eyes on her feet, "Th-thank you. I-I have to go." She began to walk to Ayumi when Kouga gently grabbed her arm.

"Hey. Give me a call sometime." He slipped his hand into her backpack and wrote a number on a piece of paper, then slipped it back into her bag. The wolf youkai winked at her and then disappeared in the crowd.

With her face beet red, Kagome shuffled over to her friends. Their faces smug, they surrounded her to ask questions when Kagome's cell phone rang. A rarity that only happened once in a blue moon, Kagome took her phone from her pocket and answered it, her friends eying her in curiosity.

"Hello?"

Her friends watched her as she replied with nods and 'alrights'. After ten minutes on the phone, Kagome hung up and slipped it back into her pocket.

She turned to her friends, "that was my professor… He said that I **passed** my finals, but to return to school this afternoon…."

They all looked at one another for a while trying to get a grip on reality, then the three other girls bear-hugged Kagome. Laughing, they all dragged Kagome out for some coffee to celebrate.

**Coffee shop**

"So… do you have any idea of where you're gonna work now that you are out of college?" Her friend Eri asked. "Kagome?"

"Uh? Japan to Kagome. Are the lights on upstairs?" Ayumi gently rapped her fist on Kagome's forehead.

The glazed look in her eyes shifted back to the bright twinkle she usually exhibited.

"Huh?"

Kagome had been reminiscing on her younger, much brighter childhood. Her chin had been resting on her palm and, as usual when she thought, her friends feared that she was spacing out again.

Ayumi and the other two sighed, "Kagome… maybe you should get going. It's almost twelve."

Ayumi looked at her _Hello Neko_ watch, the thin hands just past a quarter 'til noon. Kagome still confused, agreed quickly after she took a glance at her own watch. She apologized that she couldn't stay longer but they just sent her on her way.

**Tokyo streets**

Racing to the crosswalk, Kagome checked her watch again.

'_Shoot! I've only got five minutes left to get back on time!'_ She panicked to herself.

Thankfully by the time she reached the crosswalk, the little green man for _'Walk'_ blinked on the sign. She sighed.

'_Hopefully I'll make it. How I wish Sota didn't break my bike last week!'_

Kagome remembered the previous week when her brother "borrowed" her bike for what he called '_Demolition Derby_', in which he played Chicken with his friends and their bikes. Unfortunately, neither Sota nor his friend chickened out when it was their turn to face off, due to the Higurashi children's stubbornness and their adrenaline.

"_Only at the last second did we know we were gonna crash. So we jumped off of the bikes and… yours kinda got the worst part of it. Sorry sis." _

Kagome thought on the story her brother had given her and sighed. She had experienced worse, but fought against the urge to dwell on those immature memories. Nearing the university, Kagome grinned when she checked her watch for the next to last time.

"Yes! It's only eleven fifty-seven. Three minutes. I'm gonna make it!"

Sprinting now, she shoved her way in through the slow revolving door. She hurried to the elevators while she waved at the receptionists in the circular desk- positioned in the center of the lobby. Slowly the chime of golden doored elevators sounded and she rushed in. The doors were just about closed when a clawed hand reached in to stop them. Kagome looked up from the buttons to find the very man who called her step inside. She smiled up at Sesshoumaru and the doors whispered tightly shut.


	6. Claustrophobia

Untitled

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or the characters. That privilege is reserved to the most honorable Rumiko Takehashi. I bow down to her awesomeness! **

**A/N- **_thoughts are in italics_**… hint hint. I will update as soon as I am able. Please review either at the end of chapters or when you are finished completely, either is fine w/ me. Thank you for choosing to read this fanfic! It is the first I've ever posted. I appreciate all types of feedback! **

**Sorry these chapters are so short! I'm working on making them longer! **

Chapter 5: Claustrophobia

At the moment, the elevator was completely silent because, for some odd reason, earlier that morning the speaker blew out. The floor Kagome was called to come up to was the twenty-fifth, where most of the exclusive hospitals held interviews. Her face was flushed red from running in the cold to get to the university on time. Kagome glanced up at Sesshoumaru to thank him for calling her about her finals, when in a split second she was pushed against the elevator wall and her professor's lips crushed hers.

His hands slid from the wall to come to rest on her hips. And while he kissed her, Kagome was frozen from shock but her voice screamed inside her head.

'_What the hell is going on?! Why is this happening?! Snap out of it Kagome! Snap out!'_

The moment her thought ended, her glazed over russet eyes sparked back to life. She shoved against his chest with all of her might; she also tore at his hair, but he took it in a whole different perspective. She felt him smirk through his overbearing kiss and he snaked closer to her.

One of his hands swiftly unbuttoned her coat and wrapped its way around her waist pulling her closer. Finally, he took his mouth off of hers and Kagome could breathe again. She used this chance to voice her protests.

"Professor Okinu! What are you **doing**?! This is wrong…" She kept shoving at his chest that was inching ever closer.

He sighed, his lips on her neck, "You're irritating me. Be quiet." Then he proceeded to kiss her neck.

"Professor!" She gasped, her knees growing weak from helplessness.

He smirked again. "Enjoying ourselves?"

The chime of the elevator reaching the twenty-fifth floor and the doors sliding open became Kagome's knight in shining armor.

"**NO!**" She shrieked and shoved Sesshoumaru to the other side of the elevator in time to duck under his left arm and bolt into the lavished hallway.

Kagome kept running until she couldn't hear his footsteps following her anymore. The first door she saw, she dove into and locked it tight. Leaning against the door, her heart racing, Kagome noticed that she locked herself in the women's bathroom. Still in shock, she crawled under the sinks to her left and sat there hugging her knees, shaking like a leaf caught in a horrid thunderstorm. For the reason she knew, the shuddering just wouldn't stop. It was her first kiss; it should have been so very different. Not lustful but loving. Not forced but chosen. She laid her head on her knees. It was then that the tears fell leaving tracks on her pallid face.

A knocking came from the door. Startled, Kagome felt like her stomach had jumped up into her throat. She hadn't been this terrified since... Shaking the painful memory of her father out of her head, Kagome eventually found her shaky voice.

"H-he-hello?" Kagome meekly called.

"There **are** other women who need to get into the bathroom." An abrasive voice called through the door.

Kagome sighed. With a shaky hand she unlocked the door. A young woman, 20 years old, walked inside in black dress pants and boots and a light blue and white pinstriped blouse. She looked down at Kagome with dark mahogany eyes. Her hair was dark brown and thrown up in a messy yet sophisticated bun. Her expression confused. The woman laid her hands on her hips.

"Why, on this green earth, are you **sitting** under those **grody** sinks?"

Kagome looked up at her, fear in her eyes, yet embarrassment clear on her pale face. The tracks of her tears fading, but still visible to the other woman. The well dressed woman sighed, and leaned down to pull Kagome from the floor.

"What's your name, sweetie?" She smoothed out Kagome's disheveled hair.

"K-Kagom-me." The reply was shaky and small, like how she felt at the moment.

The woman smiled gently at her, "Well… that's a start. My name is Doctor Aoshi. You're gonna be okay." She hugged Kagome like a porcelain doll, for the good doctor feared that if she hugged her any tighter the poor girl might shatter like a miniature glass sculpture when dropped on the floor.

"What is making you shake so much?" Doctor Aoshi inquired. "You're like a little Chihuahua!"

Her laugh was like wind chimes and it calmed Kagome to hear it and to feel so much warmth in it. It also made Kagome want to laugh at herself.

"So why are you here in the first place, hon?"

Kagome replied, "I received a phone call this morning from my prof-fessor…" Her eyes focused on something; however, nothing in her immediate line of vision caught her attention.

"Hey…" the doctor started but was interrupted by a sharp rapping on the door.

"HIGURASHI!" A rough voice yelled through the door. "Get out of there. Your interview starts in ten minutes and I won't have you embarrassing me by not showing up."

Doctor Aoshi glared at the bathroom door, "She'll come out when she's good and ready, Doctor Okinu!!!" She shouted back, her hands still on Kagome's shoulders.

It was silent for a few seconds. Kagome had a frightened look on her face, which was gaining its color back. She stared at the brazen female doctor, her fear for herself replaced by worry for her new found friend. A sigh came from the door making Kagome jump out of her skin.

"Alright, Aoshi-san. But make sure she has a 'professional' change of clothes. I'll be waiting outside the conference room."

With that said, Doctor Aoshi sighed as the professor's footsteps faded into the long corridor.


	7. Recommendations

Caving In

**Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or the characters. That privilege is reserved to the most honorable Rumiko Takehashi. I bow down to her awesomeness! **

**A/N- **_thoughts are in italics_**… hint hint. I will update as soon as I am able. Please review either at the end of chapters or when you are finished completely, either is fine w/ me. Thank you for choosing to read this fanfic! It is the first I've ever posted. I appreciate all types of feedback! **

Chapter 6: Recommendations

"Do I l-look okay?" Kagome voiced as Aoshi walked out of a stall.

The doctor put a hand to her chin and the other rested on her hip. Slowly walking towards Kagome, she unclipped her hair letting it fall past her shoulders. Dr. Aoshi grabbed Kagome's ebony locks and twirled them up into the clip she now let Kagome borrow. Smiling, she backed away.

"Perfect." Aoshi winked.

Kagome looked down at her feet. Her hair had been put up into the same messy yet sophisticated bun like the doctor's had been a second ago. She turned to the mirror and saw a completely different person. The young woman wore black dress pants, stylish- partially open toed- white high heels, and an ivory button up blouse- sleeves billowing down from the elbow. She looked **very** professional.

Apparently, Doctor Aoshi was also called earlier that morning. Her caller told her to bring an extra change of clothes, not specified why or for whom. So she folded the extra clothes and stuffed them into a duffle bag, then off to the university she went. Her questions were answered when she met Kagome.

Snapping out of her reverie, Dr. Aoshi walked up beside Kagome and smiled. "Ready?"

Still looking at her feet, Kagome nodded meekly.

"You'll be fine." She added shaking Kagome's shoulders lightly. "Let's go."

Aoshi walked alongside Kagome, her arm around the young student's shoulders for support. The corridor leading to the conference room was long and gloomy pictures hung on the decorative walls.

The doctor sighed, _'They can't find __**any**__ brighter pictures… can they?'_

Kagome looked at her as if she had read the doctor's thoughts. They both giggled. A throat being cleared made them both jump, eyes wide. They turned to their left and found Professor Sesshoumaru looking down slightly annoyed with them. Dr. Aoshi shrugged and started to walk away. Kagome quickly grabbed her sleeve, surprising the young female doctor.

Aoshi winked and whispered, "I'll be right there with you when you come inside." She gave Kagome's hand a reassuring squeeze and walked into the conference room.

Kagome had told her everything that had happened in the elevator. Aoshi understood what the poor student was going through, but given the present circumstance she **couldn't** help her, no matter how much she wanted to. It was heartbreaking to leave her new friend outside in the hall with 'that monster'. But Aoshi had to prepare as well.

Out in the hall, the professor looked Kagome up and down. Inside his head, he was smirking with delight. Yet on the outside, he was still scowling that Doctor Aoshi had to be there as well.

"You look very professional, Higurashi." He commented.

Kagome glanced at him, "Thanks." She looked back at her feet.

'_The audacity! He acts as if nothing happened! He really is what his name means. He's destructive.'_ Kagome thought wildly to herself.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, for Kagome, the conference room's door creaked open. Sesshoumaru stretched his arm out as a means for not saying "Ladies first". Kagome walked in, an anxious eye on her professor, hoping he wouldn't do anything more… or later.

Her eyes wandered around the darkened room. The walls were painted black with a very depictive painting of Tokyo. The black, she mused, must have been the night sky. Whereas the window that covered the wall in front of her contrasted to the room. Where the walls were Tokyo at night, the outside was the real, tangible Tokyo in the afternoon. She noticed that where the landscape outside the window ended, it began and ran together perfectly- like one even stroke of a painter's brush- with the scene on the conference room walls. There was a large table to her right, which- as she neared the window- she ran into, bruising her hipbone and knee. Looking at the polished cherry wood, she followed the long table to the end of the room, where a dark figure sat.

Squinting her russet eyes, she could make out that instead of one figure there were two. One sitting, the other standing. Dr. Aoshi was the one on her feet. Kagome about ran to her, when the doctor slightly put her palm towards Kagome. Lightly shaking her head, Dr. Aoshi had a stern yet professional look upon her face that portrayed "Not now".

Quietly and without warning, Dr. Okinu laid his hands on Kagome's shoulders. She tensed as he spoke.

"Aoshi-sama, Fujihara-sama, this is my most promising student, Miss Kagome Higurashi."

"Sit down young lady. We've been expecting you for some time now." A withered voice called out to her across the table.

Kagome took the seat in front of her. Her anxiety threatening to well up and spill over her already fragile state. Her heart skipping beats.

"You may take your lave now, Okinu-san." It called out again.

Wide eyed, Sesshoumaru bowed out of respect and made a beeline for the door. He couldn't hide his sinful actions from his 'superior'- as much as he loathed admitting that Fujihara was his superior in medicine. His clawed hand on the door nearly crushed the knob as he swung it open and slammed it shut, causing a couple pictures on the wall outside fall and break.

Kagome and Dr. Aoshi cringed at the breaking of glass, knowing full well that the professor was furious. Even though Professor Sesshoumaru was fuming outside in the hall, Kagome's tense shoulders relaxed a bit to have his hovering eyes off of her.

"Now, down to business. Miss Higurashi," the voiced called her to attention. "You have been called her for a… **unique** interview."

A chuckle from Dr. Aoshi.

"WE," the shadowed person nodded at Doctor Aoshi, who gently smiled. "Have looked over your transcripts, your background, **and** your resumes. They seem very insignificant for such an excelled student such as you."

Kagome gulped and wringed her hands.

"Fortunately, you received a couple recommendations. One from your professor, Doctor Okinu…" the withered voice mumbled on.

Her breath caught in her throat. She had no idea that **this** was the main reason her teacher called her. She felt a tiny, no, a no-bigger-than-the-dot-on-an-"I" bit of gratitude towards Sesshoumaru.

"… and the other, from the late Nanase Kikyo, Kami rest her soul."

As Kagome once again started to breathe easier, her breath hitched in her throat for a second time. Hearing _Her_ name again brought back painful memories, ones almost as painful as the day of her father's death. Kikyo. The one person who was like a sister to her. Related by blood, looking almost identical, yet completely opposite in almost every way.

Kagome, fiery and a social butterfly by nature. Kikyo, calm and always keeping to herself. Kagome's mother and Kikyo's mother were identical twins, hence the minor resemblance between the two girls. Kikyo was older by two years. Kagome was as healthy as a horse, while Kikyo had multiple heart problems since birth. They were inseparable. Until late last year. Kikyo. Her friend, her 'soul' sister… her _dead_ cousin.

Kagome's first recommendation… from a past long buried.

Kikyo was still watching out for her, even from the grave.

i

i Sesshoumaru means "destruction".


End file.
